Big Weekend

Well, we all had a big weekend! Saturday night we hosted our church's Young Professionals group Annual Cornhole Party. We've done this before, and always have a really good time. It's great to get together with people you don't always hang out with. By the end of the evening, our neighbors were over. We got out the fire pit, and sat around and enjoyed some adult beverages until very late. All in all, it was a great night. Plus, Eli had a nice milestone - for the first time, he picked up (on his own) and drank from his sippy cup! It was very exciting. For a long time he had no interest in drinking from the sippy cup, and we really got out of the habit of offering it to him when we were on vacation. So last week we started getting it back out occasionally, and lo and behold, he started drinking out of it. Amazing.

Yesterday was our church Golf Outing, which I was in charge of organizing for the second year. Thom played again, and got our neighbor, Tom, to play, too. We had a quick downpour right at the start, but then it cleared up and held off again until later in the evening. Everything went well, though, and competition was stiff this year. But my Dad's team won with a 9 hole score of 29.

I had forgotten to mention that Eli now has two teeth, which he finds very intriguing. He plays with his tongue a lot now. And on Wednesday night he did "so big" all by himself. You know that game, right? "How big is Eli?" "Soooo big" and raise their arms in the air. Well, we weren't really doing this all that much, but Wednesday night I asked him and he raised his arms up high and smiled. Of course, I cried, it took me by surprise that much that he did it already. Aah, a proud mommy.

9 Months!

Eli had his 9 month birthday this week. Which, of course, comes with a doctor's appointment. He is now 20 pounds 4 ounces and 29 1/4 inches long. He is much higher percentage-wise for his length than his weight. But one look at his chunky thighs and you can tell he's not missing any meals. The doctor said he looks great. He is suddenly on a strike against vegetables. He just sits in his high chair and cries - until you stop trying to feed him and give him some finger food. Stinker. So we're really starting to experiment with more regular food and stuff. Eli has a super sensitive gag reflex so trying new things is always interesting. I thought all the spit up was bad, but throw-up in the high chair is no fun either!

Anyhow, he's so close to crawling. He rolls all over the place, though, he's never in the same spot for long. And he does scoot himself backwards while on his belly. And he will get on his back, lift his butt in the air, and push himself backwards with his feet. He's very crafty. And still very much a monkey. That kid does more with his feet - it's ridiculous. We were telling the doctor everything he does with his feet, and he was just laughing. They're like 2 more hands to him. So we have decided that monkeys will be the theme of his 1st birthday. Seems appropriate.

Beach Baby

Well, we got really, really behind on our posts! That just shows how busy we have been lately. I served on our church's task force to hire a new preschool director. Now that we have hired a director, we also are starting up a Preschool Board that I am on - both have taken up a lot of time and the Board is going to continue to keep me busy all summer.

Anyhow, we successfully completed a week vacation to the beach. We left the last Friday in June, and drove as far as Charlotte. We got to stay with my friend Cat and her husband Mike, and her little "bun in the oven." It was great get to see them both, even though we weren't there very long. Eli really melted down after being in the car about 6 1/2 hours on the way to Charlotte. Luckily, we didn't have too long in the car on Saturday.

We were in Oak Island all week with Thom's parents, his brother, Mike, our sister-in-law Susan, and their girls - Maddie and Grace.

Eli was a little freaked out at the beach on Saturday afternoon. But come on - big waves, cold water suddenly splashing your little legs, and lots of noise. When the tide went out, though, we had the perfect sandbar that created a big shallow pool between the beach and the sandbar. It was the perfect place to sit with Eli and play in the water. That he loved and was happy as could be.

It was pretty hot all week. Luckily, I had found this great tent online to set up on the beach. It really was perfect - the sides were mesh so that great ocean breeze flowed through it, making it cool. I set up an outdoor blanket underneath it, and Eli played and napped under it all day. And sometimes he shared it with me, when I got too hot.

For the long drive home, we were able to put some things in Thom's parent's van so the backseat next to Eli was open. It worked very well. When he started getting restless or hungry, one of us could get in the backseat and entertain or give him a bottle. So we actually made it home in one day.

Overall, it was a much needed vacation. And now we're looking forward to going to Hilton Head in September with my family!